“Where I’m weak, she’s strong — and vice versa,” Beatz adds. “She owns herself, I own myself, but we come together and have this amazing family. We established that early, both coming out of long relationships. We knew what had worked in our past relationships and what hadn’t. We came to the table a little knowledgeable for this round.”

For hear part, Keys says maintaining respect for each other’s opinion is part of their happiness.

“It’s a bit of a challenge sometimes to figure out how to be patient enough to listen and not be so quick to shut down or get defensive,” she says, “but to pay attention.”

Keys and Beatz appear on the cover of Cultured magazine in a shot by photographer Jamel Shabazz. Alicia posted the image on Instagram — it recreates a 1970 photo of the late Black Panther party leader Eldridge Cleaver and ex-wife Kathleen Cleaver taken by the late photographer Gordon Parks.

“This was made when Eldridge was exiled in Algeria,” she says. “It’s very powerful when you think about that time and where we are in the world now, politically, culturally…It represents everything about the spirit of Gordon Parks.”

Beatz adds that, during a time when the Internet is full of “fake news,” it’s very important to pay homage to Parks’ legacy.

“Most of what people are seeing on social media is not the truth,” Beatz says. “What you’re seeing in Gordon Parks is the truth…It embraces the roots. And there’s beauty in that.”